Washington Wizards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wizards Sign Jaime Echenique To 10-Day Deal

December 30th, 2021 at 4:13pm CST by Rory Maher

The Wizards have signed center Jaime Echenique to a 10-day contract via the hardship exception, the team announced.

The 6’11” big man has been playing for the Capital City Go-Go, Washington’s G League affiliate. In 14 games with the club, Echenique has averaged 12.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. He also spent Summer League, preseason and training camp with the Wizards prior to being released.

Echenique spent the 2020/21 season in Spain with Acunsa GBC. In 18 games (20.3 minutes), he averaged 12.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks. He played his last two seasons of college ball with Wichita State.

As Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington details, Echenique is now the first Colombian-born player in NBA history after receiving his first contract. He’s grateful for the opportunity the Wizards have given him. “It’s just been a dream come true to be in this position,” Echenique said. “I’ve been enjoying it. I’m grateful to God for the opportunity.”

Brad Wanamaker Signs With Wizards

December 29th, 2021 at 6:40pm CST by Luke Adams

6:40pm: Wanamaker’s deal is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. As anticipated, it’s a 10-day hardship deal. It’ll cover Washington’s next five games.

10:59am: Veteran guard Brad Wanamaker, who was waived by Indiana on Monday, is expected to sign with the Wizards, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando and Yakov Meir of Israel Hayom (Twitter link).

The Wizards don’t currently have any openings on their standard roster and have eight players in the health and safety protocols, so we can safely assume Wanamaker will get a 10-day deal via the hardship exception. He’ll be Washington’s fifth hardship addition.

Wanamaker, 32, appeared in 22 games for Indiana this season and struggled to make an impact, averaging 3.5 PPG and 2.2 APG with a .361/.235/.909 shooting line in 13.3 minutes per contest. His numbers in three previous seasons with Boston, Golden State, and Charlotte – 5.7 PPG and 2.4 APG on .427/.305/.906 shooting – were a little better.

Since he was just cut on Monday, Wanamaker will technically be on waivers until later today. Assuming he goes unclaimed, he and the Wizards will be free to complete their deal.

Bradley Beal Received Coronavirus Vaccine

December 29th, 2021 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who stated in September that he remained unvaccinated, has since received a COVID-19 vaccine, people familiar with the situation tell Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. Beal is currently in the health and safety protocols, but his updated vaccinated status was “welcome news to many in the organization,” says Wallace.

Wizards Sign Alize Johnson

December 28th, 2021 at 7:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

7:36pm: Johnson officially signed prior to the team’s game in Miami, the team announced (via Twitter).

4:43pm: Alize Johnson is signing with the Wizards on Tuesday and could play significant minutes right away, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Johnson will ink a 10-day contract under the hardship exemption. He was waived by the Bulls over the weekend. His agent told Wojnarowski that his client landed in Miami after clearing waivers and is on the way to the arena, where Washington is playing tonight.

Washington has eight players in protocols, including frontcourt players Thomas Bryant, Rui Hachimura, Anthony Gill and Montrezl Harrell.

Washington has five games over the next 10 days and Johnson will receive about $98K from the Wizards to go along with the $705K+ he made with Chicago, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

Johnson appeared in 16 games for the Bulls, averaging 1.8 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 7.6 MPG.

Selected by the Pacers with the 50th pick in 2018, Johnson spent two years with Indiana, then played 18 games for the Nets last season after joining the team in March on a 10-day contract.

COVID-19 Roundup: Nets, Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Knicks, Wizards, Thunder

December 28th, 2021 at 12:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA’s new guidelines regarding its health and safety protocols have resulted in several players being released from protocols this morning. The league and its players union agreed Monday to shorten the minimum required quarantine period for a vaccinated COVID-positive players and coaches from 10 days to six.

Here is the latest news on who has entered and cleared protocols today:

Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are out of protocols, as is LaMarcus Aldridge, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. While Durant and Aldridge may be ready for Thursday’s game, Irving is still working his way back into game condition and remains ineligible to play in home games because he hasn’t met New York City’s vaccine requirement.
Timberwolves forward Taurean Prince has cleared protocols and will rejoin the team, but won’t play tonight against the Knicks, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Minnesota also gets back Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid (Twitter link).
Cavaliers power forward Evan Mobley has cleared protocols and is set to reunite with the club today, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com tweets that the Cavaliers hope to have Mobley play in tonight’s game against the Pelicans, but will put him through his pregame paces first to gauge his conditioning level.
Unfortunately, just as one of Cleveland’s best players recovers, another will be absent. Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, enjoying a nearly All-Star-level season with Cleveland, has entered the NBA’s coronavirus protocols, tweets Kelsey Russo of The Athletic.
Knicks rookie point guard guard Miles McBride has cleared protocols, the team has announced (via Twitter). New York adds that he has rejoined the team ahead of its game tonight against the Timberwolves.
Veteran Heat power forward Udonis Haslem has entered the league’s coronavirus protocols, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. Heat point guard Kyle Lowry is also in protocols. Miami assistant coach Chris Quinn will return to the sidelines, Chiang adds.
Wizards forwards Rui Hachimura and Montrezl Harrell have entered the league’s COVID-19 protocols, joining six other Washington players, the team has announced (Twitter link). Hachimura has missed the Wizards’ entire season thus far due to personal reasons. Among the others, unvaccinated All-Star guard Bradley Beal is still in protocols and Wallace reports that his status is “questionable” prior to the Wizards’ upcoming contest against the Heat tonight. Center Thomas Bryant, wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and guards Anthony Gill, Aaron Holiday and Raul Neto are still in protocols.
Thunder rookie guard Josh Giddey has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Head coach Mark Daigneault has also entered the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, and will be replaced by assistant coach Mike Wilks starting with this evening’s contest against the Kings, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). Wilks, a former journeyman NBA guard, suited up for four games with the Thunder during the 2009/10 season, Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman adds (Twitter link). Players Darius Bazley, Tre Mann, Aleksej Pokusevski, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl remain in the protocols for Oklahoma City.
Keep track of all the players currently in COVID-19 protocols through out our daily tracker.

Arthur Hill contributed to this report.

Wizards Sign Craig Sword To 10-Day Contract

December 28th, 2021 at 11:22am CST by Arthur Hill

11:40am: Sword’s deal is now official, according to the Wizards (Twitter link). It’ll run through January 6.

11:22am: G League guard Craig Sword will sign a 10-day deal with the Wizards under the hardship exemption, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

The 27-year-old has played mostly overseas since going undrafted out of Mississippi State in 2016. He’s averaging 6.4 points and 3.6 assists this season in 14 games with the Capital City Go-Go, Washington’s G League affiliate.

The Wizards currently have six players in health and safety protocols, including guards Bradley Beal, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Aaron Holiday and Raul Neto.

Deandre Ayton Enters Protocols; Trae Young Cleared

December 27th, 2021 at 5:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns center Deandre Ayton has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Assuming Ayton has been vaccinated, he will out at least six days or until he returns two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart. He joins teammates Jae Crowder and Elfrid Payton in protocols as well as head coach Monty Williams. Ayton is averaging 17.0 PPG and 11.1 RPG.

On the flip side, Hawks star guard Trae Young has cleared the protocols and will play against Chicago on Monday, Wojnarowski reports in a separate tweet. Atlanta has a 1-2 record since Young entered protocols. He produced a second negative test to exit the protocols, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets.

Young won’t have many of his usual teammates in uniform with him. Atlanta still has 10 other players in the protocols.

In Houston, Rockets players Jae’Sean Tate and Kenyon Martin Jr. have entered protocols, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. That increases the number of Rockets players in protocols to four.

The Wizards, who already had a handful of players in protocols, added Aaron Holiday to the list, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets.

COVID-19 Updates: Wizards, Billups, Thunder, Hornets, Raptors, More

December 27th, 2021 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards now have five players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to head coach Wes Unseld Jr., who told reporters today that Anthony Gill and Thomas Bryant are the latest players to enter the protocols (Twitter link via Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington).

Bryant is coming off an ACL tear and has yet to play this season, so being in the protocols won’t affect his availability. However, Gill will no longer be an option in the short term for the Wizards after appearing in eight of the team’s last 11 games.

Here are more COVID-19 updates from around the NBA:

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has entered the COVID-19 protocols, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links), who reports that assistant Scott Brooks is expected to become Portland’s acting head coach as long as Billups is unavailable.
Aleksej Pokusevski and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl of the Thunder have entered the health and safety protocols, according to the team (Twitter link via Wojnarowski). Aaron Wiggins also briefly entered the protocols, but has since been listed as available, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City now has four players in the protocols.
The Hornets announced some good news and some bad news on Monday. While Cody Martin has exited the protocols and has been cleared to play on Monday vs. Houston, rookie Scottie Lewis is now in the protocols, according to the team (Twitter link).
Three Raptors players – Pascal Siakam, Khem Birch, and Gary Trent Jr. – have exited the protocols and are listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game vs. Philadelphia as they go through a reconditioning period, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Toronto still has seven players in the protocols, but may finally be trending in the right direction.
Celtics forward Grant Williams boarded a flight to Minnesota earlier today and expects to play tonight vs. the Wolves, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link). Williams has been in the health and safety protocols since December 17.
Although Ziaire Williams remains on the shelf due to an ankle sprain, he’s no longer listed in the protocols in the Grizzlies‘ latest injury report, suggesting he has been cleared.

Wizards Sign Jordan Goodwin Via Hardship Exception

December 27th, 2021 at 11:47am CST by Dana Gauruder

DECEMBER 27: The Wizards have officially signed Goodwin to a 10-day contract, the team announced in a press release.

DECEMBER 26: The Wizards are planning to sign Jordan Goodwin from their G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, on a 10-day contract under the hardship exemption, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Goodwin is averaging 15.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 3.6 APG in 14 games with the Go-Go, including 10 starts. He went undrafted earlier this year following a four-year college career with Saint Louis.

The 6’3” guard will fortify a backcourt that has two prominent players, Bradley Beal and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, in the league’s health and safety protocols.

COVID Updates: Green, Brooks, Bazley, Augustin, Scrubb, Niang, Neto

December 26th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The league continues to be ravaged by COVID positives with an increasing number of players entering the league’s health and safety protocols. Here are the latest updates:

Warriors star forward Draymond Green has entered the protocols, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Green joined four other Warriors in the protocols heading into a pair of games against Denver.
The Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks, De’Anthony Melton and Yves Pons all entered the protocols prior to their game against Sacramento on Sunday, the team’s PR department tweets. Memphis now has five players under those restrictions.
Darius Bazley became the first Thunder player in protocols, Andrew Schlecht of The Athletic tweets.
Veteran Rockets guard D.J. Augustin has entered the health and safety protocols, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
Clippers two-way player Jay Scrubb has been placed in the protocols, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
Wizards guard Raul Neto has joined two other Washington players in the protocols, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
Two Hornets regulars, Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington, are now in the protocols, the team’s PR department tweets.
On the positive side, Sixers forward Georges Niang has cleared the protocols, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.